


Greed and Regrets

by TsukiDragneel



Series: Hetalia/Puella Magi Madoka Magica [3]
Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers, Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magika | Puella Magi Madoka Magica
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Angst, Flashbacks, Gilbert why, Kyubey is Awful, LITERALLY, M/M, Poor Canada (Hetalia), Suicide, THEY'RE JUST BROTHERS OKAY, That's it, whoops
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-11
Updated: 2018-12-11
Packaged: 2019-09-16 10:27:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,234
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16952295
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TsukiDragneel/pseuds/TsukiDragneel





	Greed and Regrets

Gilbert still clearly remembers the first time he saw Matthew Williams.

It’s late February of eighth grade. Cold wind tugs at scarfs and jackets as snow flies through the air. People buzz about, studying frantically for impending midterms.

Gilbert slumps at his desk, playing idly with his pen. Across from him, his younger brother, Ludwig, watches on, brow furrowed in disapproval.

“Today we’ll be studying the Roman Empire,” his teacher drones, and it’s a struggle to stay awake.

“Ah, hello.”

Shifting slightly, Gilbert can see a teen standing awkwardly in the door. Deep purple eyes scan the room before dropping to his feet, and he toys nervously with the red sweatshirt he’s wearing.

“You must be Matthew Williams,” the teacher smiles. “Take a seat next to… hm… Gilbert.”

Matthew turns, nervously looking around the room as Gilbert raises his hand.

“Now, as for Rome…”

“So, you’re Matthew Williams?” Gilbert hisses as Matthew drops his things on the nearby desk.

“A-Ah, yes,” Matthew whispers. “W-Why?”

“I wanna make sure I got your name right,” Gilbert smiles. “I’m Gilbert Beilschmidt. That stick-in-the-mud across from us is my little brother, Ludwig. Say hi, Ludwig.”

The blond gives Gilbert a scathing glare before turning his attention back to his notes.

“Do you have any siblings?” 

“M-My twin, Alfred.”

“Gilbert!” his teacher exclaims. “Would you mind repeating what I just said?”

Soon after, the bell rings, and the class heads for lunch. Instead of following Ludwig and his friends, Feliciano and Kiku, he instead hangs back, walking out with Matthew instead.

“What class d’ya have next?” Gilbert asks.

“A-Ah, lunch,” Matthew mutters, glancing down at his paper schedule.

“Need to know where to go?”

“Sure!” Matthew gives him a blinding smile, and Gilbert’s heart skips a beat. 

“O-Okay then!” 

 

Gilbert still clearly remembers the day he made his wish. 

Slowly but surely, he’s been developing a crush on Matthew for the last few months. Spring is in the air, cherry blossoms flying about and trees blooming with new warmth.

Swallowing his pride, he pushes a small envelope into Matthew’s locker. It’s innocuous and plain white, inside containing an invitation to meet him at the cherry blossom tree behind the school. 

From there, the day passes in a slow slough and the clock seems to move at a quarter of its normal speed as he waits for the day to end. Matthew, who sits next to him, asks Ludwig about the letter in World History, and though his brother clearly recognizes the handwriting, he says nothing.

The final bell rings not a second too soon, and Gilbert’s out the door, barely pausing to grab his backpack before taking off at a dead spring to the cherry blossom tree. Arthur and Kiku seem to notice him as they’re on their way out, but neither of them say a thing.

He spreads a blanket out on the hillside, just below the waving blossom-studded branches. Clutching a rose between his fingers, he waits for Matthew to come.

Time passes, from three to four to five, until finally, at six o'clock, he has to acknowledge that Matthew isn’t coming. He swipes at a few tears falling down his cheeks, rolls up his blanket, and sprints home, where a concerned Ludwig waits at the door. 

After a depressing dinner, he collapses on his bed, sobbing nonsense into the comforter. 

“Do you have a wish, Gilbert Beilschmidt?”

He rolls over to see a white squirrel-like thing standing on his windowsill. Its long, wavy ear-like things barely brush the ground, and golden rings hover around them.

“Do I have a wish?” Gilbert parrots. 

“Any wish,” the creature echoes. “I can make any wish come true.”

Gilbert balls his hand into a fist, biting his lower lip. “Is this some sort of joke?”

“Not at all,” the creature replies. “I can make any one wish you have come true. Just make a contract with me!”

Gilbert eyes it with suspicion. If it is a prank, it’s an elaborate one. 

“What could be the harm?” he mutters. “I want Matthew and I to be a couple, and I want to go out with him and take him to the cherry blossom trees.”

The creature’s fuschia eyes open and close slowly, staring deep into his own. “As you wish.”

A bright light envelops the room, and once it subsides, Gilbert finds the creature gone, and a crimson-red gem in his palm.

 

Gilbert still clearly remembers the day Matthew Williams left.

Left makes it sound far more flowery than it is. It’s not really his fault. It’s really Alfred’s.

“So, whatcha doing with Mattie?”

Alfred leans easily against the tree in his backyard, fixing Gilbert with those piercing blue eyes. The ring around his finger gleams in tandem with Gilbert’s, as if warning them of each other’s presence. 

“Tonight we’re going out to the festival,” Gilbert smirks. “It’s going to be freaking awesome!” 

“The festival? Sounds cool!”

“Pfft, yeah! Birdie’s been wanting to go there for ages!”

“Hm,” Alfred hums, a darkness in his gaze.

A silence hangs in the air for a moment, broken only by the cheerful chirping of birds. 

“Hey, Gilbert? When you became a magical boy, what did you wish for?”

Gilbert barely flinches, but Alfred still notices the small movement. “C’mon! It can’t be that bad!”

“What’d you wish for?” Gilbert smirks, not anticipating a reply.

“I wished to save my and Matthew’s lives,” Alfred states, a threatening hint to his voice. “So, whatcha hiding?”

The idea is thrown out there so casually that Gilbert’s taken aback. Alfred, through all four months that Gilbert and Matthew have been dating, has suspected something the whole time.

“See, I don’t think it’s a coincidence that you just happened to become a magical boy on the same day Matthew asked you out. That’s just too convenient.”

The friendly facade Alfred wore is entirely gone. One hand is on his soul gem, and the other on what appears to be a stick. 

“Pfft. No.”

“Don’t lie to me, Gilbert.”

“I’m not lying,” Gilbert insists.

“Yes, you are.”

Alfred extends his hand and a white glow envelops his body. Once it fades, he’s left in his typical magical boy uniform, armor glinting in the afternoon light.

“I don’t want to fight you, Alfred,” Gilbert mutters as he changes into his own magical boy uniform - a black jacket and pants over a white tank top.

“Just tell me the truth, then.” Alfred’s eyes seem to take on a darker look as he continues. “Tell me what the hell you did to Mattie.”

“Fine!” Gilbert shouts. “I wished that he would go out with me, okay! I wished to take him to the cherry blossom trees!”

“You-”

“Gilbert?”

He wheels to see Matthew staring at him, violet eyes filled with pain. “You… this isn’t real?”

“No, Birdie-”

“Get away from me!” Matthew screams, hands clenched into fists. “I thought you promised not to lie to me!”

“Mat-”

“No!”

Matthew pushes past him and races out of the yard, tears streaming down his pale face.

That was the last time he saw Matthew Williams.

Police cars, all centered around a something on the ground.

What is the something? 

It’s a tangled mess of blood and flesh, fractured bone and organs.

The something is Matthew Williams.

The something was Matthew Williams.

If they’re dead, are they still themselves?

Gilbert doesn’t want to remember.

He doesn’t.


End file.
